This invention relates to hand-held lights having cylindrical or rod-shaped transmitters of light used mostly for wand-like signaling and warning.
There are numerous known types and descriptions of signaling rods and lights. A major use is for directing traffic. Particularly in parts of the world with much automobile traffic but inadequate traffic lights and low-cost labor, they are used extensively for human direction of automobile and pedestrian traffic. A predominant use worldwide is at airports for ground crews to direct positioning of aircraft. A wide range of uses is for various warning signals and for broad illumination.
Most early signaling lights were adaptations of flashlights. Later, light emitting diodes (LEDs) became widely used. Then there was a revival of flashlights that were specially designed and structured for signaling rods or wands.
Examples of most-closely related known but yet different wand-like lights are described in the following patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,695, issued to Lin, et al. on Dec. 16, 1997, described a "signal stick" with red, yellow and green LEDs that were timed automatically like a traffic light or manually with current from flashlight batteries. U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,423, issued to Lee on Apr. 22, 1997, described a hand-carried traffic-control light having a printed circuit board with a plurality of openings where LEDs were positioned in a transparent tube on an end of a flashlight and having a flashlight bulb at an end of the transparent tube with push-switch control. U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,203, issued to Harris, Jr. on Feb. 21, 1995, described a signal-light assembly with an elongate translucent, brightly colored and watertight tube in which batteries were positioned in a daytime-signal portion for powering a bulb to light a nighttime-signal portion internally. U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,568, issued to Dong, et al. on Jan. 14, 1992, described a police baton with automated or optionally manual switching between red, yellow and green LEDs in a transparent tube on an end of a flashlight for directing traffic. U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,679, issued to Chin-Fa on Jan. 7, 1992, described a multi-purpose directing stick having a battery-operated whistle in an elongate light tube on an end of a flashlight handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,123, issued to Arnold on Oct. 22, 1991, described a flashlight in a policeman's billy club. U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,442, issued to Brown on Jul. 30, 1991, described an illuminated wand with optional hooks on ends for attachment to objects like wheels.